


the rose nebula

by sapphire_child



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Community: then_theres_us, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-04
Updated: 2010-03-04
Packaged: 2019-01-27 23:28:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12592940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire_child/pseuds/sapphire_child
Summary: The lights of the city are reflected in her hazel eyes but there are also beads of moisture clinging to every strand of blonde hair, every mascara blackened eyelash, every inch of skin and skerrick of fabric covering her. As they catch the light from the stars she sparkles, his own personal constellation.





	the rose nebula

He doesn’t often apologise to her. He’s not the sort of man who does. Still, it’d be nice once in a while. You know, if he did apologise when he stuffed up or nearly got her killed or upset her by snogging other women.

Case in point, he takes her to watch her planet die and then back home to the hustle and bustle of London like it might make what she saw in the future all better. Let’s her go back to see her dad and only apologises for blaming everything on her because he’s just as frightened as she is and he doesn’t like fighting with her over something so petty.

Not that she doesn’t appreciate that he’s trying and he gets better of course as time goes on. But almost every ‘sorry’ she wrestles out of him still ends up being bitter or worse, nothing more than an echo of the many others that he’s spoken on their travels.

He’s sorry – he really is. He’s _so_ sorry.

In the end she gets to like it better when he takes her places instead of apologising – gorgeous, glittering places with fantastic theme parks or beautiful gardens or bustling cities where she can shop to her heart’s content on strange alien wares. She always knows when he feels he’s done something wrong by her because suddenly he’ll pull some spectacular destination out of that great big daft Time Lord brain of his and even the TARDIS will pitch in to make sure they can have a nice trip free of any troubles.

Then comes the day that he flat out refuses to take her home to see her mother after she rings bleating about some bloke who's upset her. He wants to go to some planet first instead, is trying to wheedle her into it and Rose puts her foot down and absolutely lays into him. This is _important_ , her mum needs her and she hardly ever asks him for anything, can’t the trip wait, what the hell is his problem? For his part, the Doctor stands speechless while she yells at him, his whole countenance frozen into an expression of startled incredulity.

Once she’s finished she puffs out an irritated breath of air, stumps her hands on hips and demands of him, “Well?”

“So...you don’t want to go to Clossis then?” he guesses.

Rose storms off to her room before she does something she’ll regret. Like slap him. Or tell him to drop her off home and not come back.

Its hours later and she’s finally cooled off to an acceptable level when he pokes his head around the corner of the doorway and asks carefully if she’s up to a trip because there’s somewhere he’d like to take her.

“Unless you’re taking me home I don’t wanna hear about it.” Rose glares and crosses her arms at him.

“Oh.” he says, clearly disappointed that she hasn’t changed her mind. Even his hair droops momentarily but then he perks up, faux cheerful. “Well then! Guess I’ll just have to enjoy the view on Clossis by myself. It is absolutely _out of this world_. Quite literally. Well almost. See you when I get back then!”

He practically skips off and she _hates_ when he does this – leaves her hanging with some marvellous promise when she’s really pissed off at him and wants nothing more than to be left to her sulking.

She manages to stay angry for another few minutes before curiosity finally overtakes her and she stomps after him, muttering all the way to the console room. Its empty when she reaches it but the external door is propped open slightly, wisps of something white curling inside like smoke. Curious, she cracks it open a little wider and sees...

Nothing. Frowning in consternation, she opens the door further and steps out of the TARDIS into a thick, cold mist. She’s damp all over instantly and she shivers as she steps down onto what looks like a ridiculously unstable rope and plank bridge – it’s hard to tell with the mist being so thick. A dark lump appears and slowly reveals itself, spiky hair dripping and pinstriped suit darkened by the moisture too.

“What d’you think?” he asks, eyes wide and expression eager for approval from her.

Rose huffs her displeasure. “It’s freezin’!”

He holds out his hands to her in answer, smiling enigmatically.

“Close your eyes.”

She regards him suspiciously for a moment but then places her hands in his and does as he asks. His hands are even colder than usual and she moves slowly as he leads her carefully away from the TARDIS. The mist disappears and all of a sudden it’s a whole lot windier. With her wet clothes and skin it makes her go out in a ridiculous amount of goose bumps.

Just as she’s about to ask him how long she’s got to keep her eyes shut the Doctor speaks.

“Rose Tyler,” he says softly, coming to a gentle stop. “Welcome to Clossis.”

She opens her eyes a crack and sees nothing but him and the bridge but then she chances a look at what lies beyond the bridge and as her gaze drops down, down, down so too does her stomach.

Her insides lurch and she actually gives a brief scream as she jumps into his arms, heart thundering madly as she tries to figure out _just_ how far above the ground they must be for the lights below to look so small. There’s a whole city spread out below them, a sprinkling of fairy lights peeking up at her through the mist.

No, she thinks dazedly – not mist. _Clouds_.

“Not bad eh?” comes the Doctor’s pleased voice in her ear.

“Uhghn,” she breathes in answer, still hypnotised by the lights below. “ _How_ far up are we?”

“Six, maybe seven thousand feet above the ground. Give or take a few hundred feet of course.”

“Right...” Rose suddenly feels a lot more light-headed. “How’re we breathing? I thought the air got really thin up high like this.”

“The TARDIS is protecting you,” he explains simply. “I’ve boosted her extrapolator shielding so she can extend it to outside herself. She’s pumping oxygen inside to make sure there’s enough for you to breathe. Look back where we came from. See?”

She barely dares to twist in his arms, still clinging to him. Sure enough, the path behind them has been all but cleared of mist and the TARDIS lights are glowing bright and clear behind wisps of cloud.

“Well?” he asks as she turns back and he’s grinning at her, that shit-eating grin of his that she loves.

She sighs, giving up. “It’s _impossible_ to stay mad at you.”

“I’m glad,” he winks and the breeze ruffles through all the little spikes of his hair. “I don’t like it when you’re upset with me. Incidentally,” he adds. “I am sorry about before.”

At her surprised look he continues on hastily.

“I’ve been thinking about taking you here for a long time is all and...well I’m not exactly known for my patience.”

Rose grins at that and then casts her gaze back to the sparkling vista below, stepping gingerly out of his arms but keeping hold of one of his hands.

“S’beautiful.”

“Yeah.” He agrees, smiling as he watches her profile carefully.

The lights of the city are reflected in her hazel eyes but there are also beads of moisture clinging to every strand of blonde hair, every mascara blackened eyelash, every inch of skin and skerrick of fabric covering her. As they catch the light from the stars she sparkles, his own personal constellation.

The Rose Nebula.

“Gorgeous,” he agrees just as she turns to him and gives him a megawatt smile bright enough to rival any supernova.

“So after this you’re gonna take me home right?”

And although he grimaces and groans a bit she knows that he will, no questions asked.

He might not be good at apologies but he’s definitely better at families this time round. He’s that sort a man.


End file.
